From Mould to Concrete is a photographic project about the construction of the Søften–Skødstrup Motorway, which is currently being built in the heart of Denmark, a bit north of Århus. The building work started in May 2005 and it is anticipated to be complete in mid 2009 if everything goes according to plan.
A new road is always deemed essential for an area to develop. Lack of infrastructure can be a problem, so sometimes it is necessary to build bigger and faster roads to help congestion and make room for future expansion. The Søften–Skødstrup motorway is no exception, a relatively short 14 km motorway, which carves its way through thick clay, a former seabed, connecting Søften to Skødstrup, via Hjortshøj, Lystrup, Terp and Skejby.
The road runs by Egå Mølle and through Egå swamp, a rich archaeological area where among many other things a thousand year old Viking boat has been found. Part of the road has been dug into a 10-meter deep chasm creating a noise buffer between the seamless lines of the motorway and its surrounding landscape. A road, any road of this kind is built for speed – to make life easier for the overworked commuter travelling back and forth between home and work.
The construction of a road of this nature is quite brutal to the adjacent landscape. The ground is ripped open and old roads are closed down. Asphalt that has served its time can be found lying around in big chunks, piled up like pieces of unintentional land-art. Parades of yellow machines move systematically through their paces. Earth is shifted from one location to another. Red and yellow cable lie exposed for a brief period of time on the surface before being dug down. A series of bridges have been erected to connect existing roads with the motorway, constructed using an intricate system of scaffolding. The final concrete bridges beautifully carry the trace of the wood that helped it keep its shape while the liquid concrete was settling. Small streams have been re-directed and the huge new Egå Engsø, a massive new lake, has been built. Water has been returned to where it once was and a new nature reserve has emerged, perhaps to contrast that of the new road.
From Mould to Concrete is a photographic project that follows the making of this new road. Through repeated visits to locations along the route, it’s a portrait of the changes that are happening along the way. Once the construction is complete in 2009, the road will look like it has always been, without a trace of the building process, it will all be but a distant memory.
This photographic project secures the temporary condition, the open scars in the ground; the mud covered roads; the big piles of sand and earth; the building material that has yet to be used; the road awaiting its layer of asphalt. The power cables waiting to be installed, the idle machines waiting for the weather to improve and the lonesome horses grassing nearby.
Christian Nolle was born and raised in Lystrup by Århus, Denmark, a modest stone throw from the new motorway and is currently residing in London.
From Mould to Concrete is his biggest project to date. His other ventures can be seen on his website.
